This application claims the benefit of Korean Patent Application No.1999-0040356, filed on Sep. 20, 1999, under 35 U.S.C. xc2xa7119, the entirety of which is hereby incorporated by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an auxiliary connector of a liquid crystal display device, more particularly, to the auxiliary connector that connects a pair of connectors or flexible printed circuit cable connectors (FPC connectors) of the liquid crystal display device.
2. Description of Related Art
A liquid crystal display device conventionally employs first and second substrates, each having a patterned metal layer. In order to connect the patterned metal layers of the two substrates electrically, or to apply signals to the patterned metal layers, connectors and flexible printed circuit cables are attached to the two substrates.
Referring to FIGS. 1, 2A and 2B, a pair of the conventional connectors employed for the liquid crystal display device will be explained.
Each of the first and second substrates 10 and 12 has the patterned metal layer (not shown) on the opposite surface to each other. A first connector 14 is attached to the patterned surface of the first substrate 10, and a second connector 16 is attached to that of the second substrate 12.
One of the connectors, for example, the first connector 14 is a female connector having a concave portion 14a and a plurality of contact holes 14b. The other connector, the second connector 16 is a male connector having a convex portion 16a and a plurality of contact pins 16b. In order to connect the first and second connectors 14 and 16 electrically and physically, the convex portion 16a of the second connector 16 is inserted into the concave portion 14a of the first connector 14. At the same time, each of the contact pins 16b of the second connector 16 is also inserted into the corresponding contact hole 14b of the first connector 14.
Not shown in Figs, inside the first and second connectors 14 and 16, a plurality of electric wires are arranged so that each of the electric wires is electrically connected with the corresponding contact hole 14a or contact pin 16a. Thus, when the contact pin 16a of the second connector 16 is inserted into the contact hole 14a of the first connector 14, the two connectors are electrically connected.
For the sake of lower material cost, standardized connectors are preferred. But, when the distance between the two opposite surfaces of the first and second substrates changes due to a modified design, the connectors should be also changed in size correspondingly. For example, as shown in FIG. 3A, an addition of a device 18 according to the modified design elongates the distance between the first and second substrates 12 and 14 so that the first and second connectors 14 and 16 can not be connected properly.
For the above-mentioned case, as shown in FIG. 3B, cables or flexible printed circuit cables are employed to cover the change in distance between the two substrates. Namely, a first connector cable 11 electrically connects patterned metal layer of the first substrate 10 and the first connector 14, and a second connector cable 13 electrically connects the patterned metal layer of the second substrate 12 and the second connector 16.
However, the application of the first and second connector cables 11 and 13 decreases the endurance of the liquid crystal display device.
That is to say, when a vibration or an impact affects the liquid crystal display device, the coupled connectors 14 and 16, which are respectively connected to the first and second substrates 10 and 12 by way of the first and second connector cables 11 and 13, also vibrate or shake. The vibration or shake of the connectors causes a breaking of the cables or a collision between the connectors and adjacent devices.
Further, since the cable-connected connectors can not support the two substrates of the liquid crystal display device, the liquid crystal display device becomes weaker under the impact.
In view of the foregoing and other problems of the conventional connector cables for the connectors of the liquid crystal display device, it is an object of the present invention to provide an auxiliary connector that substitutes for the connector cables connecting the connectors with substrates.
To achieve the above-mentioned objects, the present invention provides an auxiliary electric connector used for coupling a male connector connected to a first substrate of a liquid crystal display device and a female connector connected to a second substrate spaced apart from the first substrate, the male connector having convex portions, the femail connector having concave portions, including: a first end portion having the same shape as the convex portion of the male connector; and a second end portion having the same shape as the concave portion of the female connector.
The male and female connectors may be connected to the first and second subtrates of the liquid crystal display device with a cable and the cable has a plurality of electric wires, respectively.
The cable can be a flexible printed cable.
The male and female connectors may directly contact the first and second subtrates of the liquid crystal display device, respectively.
The foregoing and other objectives of the present invention will become more apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter. However, it should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, are given by way of illustration only, since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description.